


You're Just Like Christmas Day

by spicyboyfriend



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Crushes, Fluff, Gift Fic, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Taeyong is a mess, Who am I, how did i write all this fluff, seriously its just a whole lot of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 08:30:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8972056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spicyboyfriend/pseuds/spicyboyfriend
Summary: Sicheng gave Taeyong his love, practically gave himself to Taeyong.... How could he not treasure that gift with his life? He was insecure in admitting it earlier, said that he felt it wasn’t enough compared to Taeyong’s, and yet, it was more than anything Taeyong could have imagined getting in his entire life.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shinees](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinees/gifts).



> OH YMG ODSSLSJ,, JESUS CHRIST,, THIS TOOK ME SO LONG I ALMOST DIDN'T GET IT POSTED TODAY,, ALJFDKJ  
> ANYWAYS! this is a gift fic for [shinees](http://archiveofourown.org/users/shinees/pseuds/shinees) who is de best person ever,, nd its her birthday TODAY the 22nd bless happy birthday she's 16 now *pops party popper* wooooooo alSO thank u to myeon (@txnct on tumblr) for being there w me for dis mess,, bc good lord was it a mess,, ur the best myeon !
> 
> i only edited this once considering the length (and caught a few mistakes), but let me kno if u find anymore typos!! thanks~

Sitting on the couch for four hours straight was something nobody had ever seen Taeyong do. Jaehyun and Doyoung had opted to peer at him from around the corner of the kitchen, staring at his stony expression of concentration as he bit his fingernails, a habit he said he’d dropped, but clearly still had issues with as Ten walked down the hall and caught the two of them off guard.

“What’re you staring at?” Ten near shouted, making the two jump, hiss at him, and then throw their hands over his mouth while dragging him into the kitchen. Doyoung glanced at Taeyong, who had apparently been unphased by Ten’s interruption to their spying. Ten furrowed his brows and pushed their hands off of his mouth, almost huffing when Jaehyun hushed him again.

“We’re spying on Taeyong.”

Ten quirked a brow. “Should I ask why, or...?”

Doyoung turned and put his hands on his hips. “He’s been sitting on that couch for almost four hours now.”

“Have you guys been _staring_ at him for four hours?” Ten said, clearly put off by their observation. Jaehyun and Doyoung glanced at each other, then shrugged and nodded. “Oh my god, you two are so weird.”

“Okay, but Ten,” Jaehyun prefaced, gesturing wildly to the living room, “the man hasn’t moved in _hours!_ Not even to take a piss or eat or anything!”

Ten pursed his lips, following Doyoung to the corner of the kitchen and peering at Taeyong as Jaehyun plopped his head on top of Doyoung’s and stared with the other two. A snort escaped Ten as he nodded.

“Okay, I’m intrigued. Lemme guess, neither of you have tried asking him what’s wrong?”

“That’s the thing.” Jaehyun said softly. “I went up and talked to him, but he sounded fine. But look, the TV is on and he’s not even watching it! We’re not just overreacting, he really is acting weird, man.”

Resigned to the fact that neither Doyoung nor Jaehyun were going to ask Taeyong what was wrong, Ten sighed and focused his attention on Taeyong again. Though the television was blaring the news about the most recent political scandal, Taeyong didn’t have a reaction to it. He made no moves to change the channel, hands lingering on his thighs. The white tone of his knuckles said his fingers were tensed, tight around himself before Doyoung stepped back and rubbed his head.

“Should we be worried?” He said. Jaehyun followed suit and raised his arms at his sides.

“Maybe?”

“Worried ‘bout what?” Johnny said after barging through the kitchen. Ten jutted his thumb towards Taeyong and sighed.

“Taeyong hasn’t moved in hours. They’re worried he’s.... Wait, why are you worried again?”

“It’s just weird.” Jaehyun reiterated his thought from earlier. “Isn’t it weird, Johnny?”

“A little.” Johnny said. “We should go snoop around in his room to see if he’s hiding something suspicious.”

Not sparing a moment to let the others react (or let Johnny and Jaehyun enact their idiotic plan), Ten stormed out to the living room, stood in front of Taeyong with his hands on his hips after knocking his foot with his own. His gaze, always stern and intense, flickered to Ten from whatever dimension he was trapped in, let out a soft noise of acknowledgment before giving him a weak smile.

“Hey.” Taeyong said. Ten’s resolve wavered for only a second, steeling himself as the others came pouring out from the kitchen and stood by his side.

“You’re acting funny, Taeyong-hyung. What’s the matter?”

Taeyong narrowed his gaze to Ten, lips tensed in a thin line as he sat up. He jumped when he realized the others were standing beside Ten, all of them staring him down, except for Johnny, who seemed more interested in the news blaring through the television speakers.

“It’s almost Christmas.” Taeyong said. Ten nodded, waving his hand for Taeyong to continue, but Taeyong’s shoulders rose with tension, clearly put off by the fact that Ten didn’t understand just from his short explanation.

“Okay, it’s almost Christmas?” Ten prompted impatiently. “Is that it? Are you worried about Christmas?”

“W-well.... It’s just... Doyoung, could we talk alone?”

“What? Me?” Doyoung said. Taken aback by Taeyong’s question, Doyoung shooed the rest of them away. Jaehyun made for the kitchen, but Doyoung pointed down the hall and ordered him to leave just as Johnny and Ten had easily done. He left after letting out a loud, overdramatic sigh.

When Doyoung turned around to Taeyong again, it hit him just how vulnerable and embarrassed Taeyong looked sitting on the couch. He moved to pull his knees up to his chest, resting his chin on his knees as Doyoung sunk down on the couch beside him and waited for his response. Taeyong didn’t appear to be in quite the talkative mood, so Doyoung snapped his fingers and caught his attention as Taeyong flinched and then let out a soft, “Ah, sorry.”

“Taeyong, what’s wrong?” Doyoung said. Taeyong pouted, eyes flickering between Doyoung and the floor, then back to his fingers as he clenched them around his knees once more. Finally resigning himself to telling the truth, Taeyong turned to Doyoung and furrowed his brows.

“It’s almost Christmas.” He repeated. Doyoung sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Yeah, I got that part, Taeyong. There’s a week until Christmas. What does that have to do with anything?”

Taeyong uneasily shifted on the couch and huffed. “I haven’t thought of a gift for Sicheng yet, and when I try to put thought into it, I just can’t figure out what it is he’d want.”

With a loud and relieved sigh, Doyoung exaggeratedly set his hand on his chest and slumped down on the couch. “Is that all that’s been bothering you? I thought you were having trouble with the company, or family or something like that! I can’t believe you’re this worried about a _gift_ of all things.”

“It’s really important to me!” Taeyong said defensively. “You’re the only person that knows about... y’know, how I feel.”

“You mean about your crush?” Doyoung corrected, to which Taeyong flushed lightly and nodded. Why Taeyong expected Doyoung to have tact when it came to this kind of thing, he didn’t know. Doyoung never had a filter and it showed as he shook his head and scolded Taeyong again for overreacting for something as simple as a gift. “Look, even if Sicheng doesn’t know about your feelings, the kid adores you. Anything you get for him, he’s going to love.”

“That’s the problem!” Taeyong exclaimed, standing up from the couch suddenly and throwing his arms down at his sides. “I don’t want to just get him whatever because he’s going to like it, I want to get him something that he’s going to like. What kind of a... _friend_ am I if I don’t even know what to get him for Christmas? I’ve already got the rest of you something,  but not Sicheng. Why is this so hard?”

“Don’t throw a tantrum.” Doyoung said, crossing one leg over the other as he tapped his fingers against the arm of the couch. “You’re just making it harder on yourself by overthinking it like this.”

“What would you buy for somebody you like?” Taeyong said. Doyoung stuttered over his answer, and then pursed his lips as if in deep thought. Then he snapped his fingers and pointed one at Taeyong.

“Flowers.”

Taeyong hummed in disappointment and rubbed his neck. “That’s too obvious, especially for Christmas. Who goes out and buys flowers for someone on Christmas unless they’re dating?”

“You asked me what I would get for someone I’m interested in, that’s what I would get. Besides, there’s so many different types of flowers, you could easily say they were a last minute gift because you forgot to buy something.” Doyoung rambled without caring if Taeyong was paying attention or not, though it seemed like Taeyong was trying to take his words in stride. “And flowers aren’t tedious to take care of since they just dry out in a week or two. I’ve never liked getting tedious gifts for holidays. My family always insisted on giving plants that required a lot of work for Christmas. My aunt even gave me a fish once. I always thought fish would be fun to take care of, but they’re a lot of work! I ended up giving it to Gongmyung for his birthday, he liked it more than I did anyways. Are you listening to me at all?”

“Not really.” Taeyong admitted shortly. Doyoung let out a sigh of irritation.

“Why don’t you just ask the other members what to get, then? Since my suggestion was so awful, you can always see if somebody else has a better idea.” Doyoung rose from the couch as well, stretching his arms over his head before pointing down the hall. “Do you want me to tell the others you just weren’t feeling well, or...?”

“Please.” Taeyong said. “Doyoung?”

“Yeah.” Doyoung said while walking down the hall, turning at the corner.

“I’m sorry for making you worry.” Taeyong said, voice barely audible over the still booming television. He bowed slightly, apologizing again as Doyoung waved it off and disappeared down the hall, into his respective room.

After sinking back down to the couch, Taeyong twiddled his fingers in his lap. Buying a gift for Sicheng shouldn’t have been as hard as he was making it out to be, and yet, everything he thought of just didn’t seem like enough for Sicheng.

Of course it had been weighing heavy on Taeyong’s mind since Sicheng’s birthday. Granted that was a few months before Christmas, Taeyong had already been struggling with the thought of what to get him by that time. He didn’t have to worry about a birthday present since the other members all grouped together and paid for a single gift for Sicheng, but it seemed now that Christmas was coming up and everybody was buying gifts for whoever they pleased, Taeyong was clearly having a harder time. Taeyong wanted to give Sicheng a perfect gift, because Sicheng had really been working hard this past year. Debuting in a new unit, learning a new language, leaving his friends and family behind for NCT.... Taeyong thought he deserved the world for his efforts.

If Taeyong _could_ give Sicheng the world, he thought, he would.

  
  
  
  
  


The following morning, they had dance practice bright and early in the morning. Taeyong rolled out of bed, trudging out into the kitchen to make something for breakfast before they all had to leave. The shower was running in the hall, the sound of water pouring echoing through the halls with intermittent giggles and hushed conversations. Taeyong ignored them as he walked past, turned the corner to the dorm’s kitchen and found Sicheng sleepily standing in front of the refrigerator. His eyes were half lidded, a yawn parting his lips as he rubbed one eye with the back of his hand and leaned against the door of the fridge. Taeyong’s mouth went dry at the sight of Sicheng’s shirt lazily lifted over his waist, gray boxers just barely hanging onto his hips as he blinked and noticed Taeyong standing around the corner of the kitchen.

The dim light spilling from the fridge framed Sicheng’s face as he grinned, bared his teeth and mumbled, “Good morning, hyung.”

Gentle. Sicheng was so gentle, so soft, unbelievable in a way that Taeyong loved.

“Good morning, Sicheng.” Taeyong said, moving forward and joining Sicheng by his side at the fridge. “Looking for breakfast?”

“Rice.” Sicheng said.

“Ah, I think Donghyuck ate all of it last night.” Taeyong said, ruffling Sicheng’s dark hair with a smile on his lips. “Do you want me to make you something else?”

“That’s okay, hyung.” Sicheng said, moving to step away from the fridge when he nearly lost his footing on the kitchen tile, tripping over his own two feet. In the spur of the moment, Taeyong darted his arms out and grabbed Sicheng by his hips, pulled him back to the counter and held him in place. Sicheng blinked in shock, eyes focusing on Taeyong before Taeyong let him go and took a step back.

“S-sorry, I just didn’t want you to fall.” Taeyong said, voice no higher than a mumble. “I didn’t mean to grab you... like that.”

“It’s okay.” Sicheng said carefully, as if unsure of what words to pick. Though his skills in Korean had increased exponentially, he found he still doubted himself more often than not. Taeyong nodded, took another step away as somebody else cleared their throat from the entrance to the kitchen. It was Yuta, already showered, hair still dripping with water as he brushed past Taeyong and Sicheng and opened one of the cupboards to pull out a bag of uncooked rice.

“Donghyuck said he ate all the rice, I’m going to make some more for breakfast.” Yuta said to nobody in particular, looking over his shoulder to find that Taeyong was still standing dumbfounded in the kitchen, but Sicheng had disappeared without a word. “Did something happen?” Yuta asked. Taeyong shook his head and moved to sit on the counter as Yuta poured a few cups of rice into the rice cooker. Yuta, never the type to press on about that kind of thing, just returned his attention to the rice cooker and how much water to pour in.

“Yuta?” Taeyong said. Yuta hummed in acknowledgment. “If you liked somebody, what kind of gift would you get them for Christmas?”

Yuta shot Taeyong an odd glance, brows furrowed as he turned his gaze back to the rice cooker and closed the lid tightly.

“What kind of question is that? Do you like somebody? Because the company said we shouldn’t date for the first few years we’re here, you know that. Our image is still really new to risk a dating scandal—”

“It’s nothing like that....” Taeyong said. “Just humor me?”

His answer didn’t come for a few minutes. Yuta walked around the kitchen, grabbing leftover food from the fridge and warming it up in the microwave while the rice cooker finally turned on and began cooking the rice quickly.

“Hm.... Probably a dinner date?” Yuta said. “Something involving food for sure. So lunch or breakfast works too.”

“Why food?” Taeyong pressed. Yuta tilted his head from side to side, tapping his fingers against the counter before shrugging.

“I mean, who doesn’t like food? It’s an easy gift, and it can be meaningful if you want it to be.” The microwave beeped to show the food finished heating up, but Yuta made no move to grab it, and instead, continued talking. “If you and I went out for food, it’s casual, friendly, but if you go out for dinner with someone you like, it means more.”

“Means more?”

“I mean... okay, when you and I go out for food,” Yuta used the same example, “I’m glad you’re eating because you’re my friend and you should eat to your heart’s content. But if I took someone else out for dinner, I want them to eat and be strong, and happy, most of all. Even if it means giving them the food off of my plate, I’d rather see them full and smiling. Does that make sense?”

“Makes sense to me.” Hansol interrupted their conversation, smiling at Taeyong and waving as Taeyong noticed the slight dampness to his own hair as well. Yuta smiled at Hansol, moved aside from the counter as Hansol messed with Yuta’s still-wet hair. “You’ll catch a cold like that, you know. Dry your hair off after you shower.”

“Don’t wanna.” Yuta replied childishly, and Hansol took the towel around his shoulders off, wrapped it around Yuta’s head and proceeded to dry his hair as Yuta protested and batted his hands away.

“Morning, Taeyong.” Hansol said casually. Taeyong snickered at Yuta’s muffled noises of irritation from underneath the towel, greeted Hansol casually as Hansol tugged the towel off from around Yuta’s head and ran his fingers through his slightly dry hair. “See? Was that so hard?”

“You could have warned me at least.” Yuta huffed, but smiled playfully after punching Hansol in the shoulder. Hansol feigned injury, leaning against the fridge and whining as he held his arm in his hand and rubbed at the spot.

“Just kidding, your punches feel like a flick.”

“Oh yeah? I can make them hurt, you know.” Yuta said, lifting his arm to punch Hansol again as Hansol slid his hand over Yuta’s own and pushed it down to his side.

“Your rice is almost done, let’s fight after we eat.”

“Who said I’m sharing with you?!” Yuta called after Hansol left the kitchen, returning to the bathroom to hang up his towel and style his hair.

Taeyong quirked a brow at Yuta as he swung his legs back and forth, kicking the counter every now and again before Yuta returned his attention to Taeyong.

“What was with that question anyways? Are you actually interested in somebody, Taeyong?”

As Yuta moved to open the lid to the rice cooker, Taeyong jumped off of the counter and stretched his arms over his head, hearing his joints crack and pop as he did so.

“Just curiosity. Thank you for your help.”

“Well, where do you think you’re going?” Yuta said. Before Taeyong could ask what he was getting at, Yuta pointed to the microwave and the partially opened fridge. “Make something for breakfast! I made rice, I did my part.”

Taeyong snorted with laughter, moved to grab a few eggs from the fridge as well as restart the microwave to reheat the food Yuta had apparently forgotten about. Though Yuta said he didn’t mind cooking around the dorms, Taeyong still did most of it, besides cooking rice, which seemed to be the only thing Yuta took pride in doing. Hansol quickly rejoined Yuta in the kitchen, offered to help in what little ways he could while spooning the steaming rice into a bowl and carrying it to their large dinner table as the others began pouring out of their rooms. Donghyuck served himself up a heaping pile of rice, still half asleep as Mark pinched his ear and said he wasn’t leaving enough for the rest of them.

Taeyong pretended not to notice how Sicheng shyly regarded him, even when the two ended up sitting side by side at the dinner table, much to Doyoung’s delight. He winked at Taeyong briefly, only so Taeyong caught it as he bitterly stuffed his mouth full of rice to keep from saying something snippy to Doyoung.

Eating in silence proved to be only half useful. Taeyong told himself to just keep quiet and refrain from making small talk with Sicheng after their small run-in this morning. Sicheng was probably still embarrassed because of it, and Taeyong himself couldn’t seem to find the words to even broach a different subject. Every time he opened his mouth, all he could think of was apologizing again, so he opted not to say anything. As he leaned in to take another mouthful of rice and vegetables, he felt Sicheng’s knee bump against his under the table.

“Oh, sorry, hyung—” Sicheng began, only to be cut off by Taeyong’s loud coughs as he choked on his mouthful of rice. Sicheng’s eyes widened, hand instinctively moving to slap his back as Yuta burst into laughter at the sight of Taeyong coughing out a heap of half-chewed food, eyes tearing up as he fell off of his seat and onto the ground while Hansol scolded him for being so inconsiderate.

Taeyong let out a deep gasp to show he could breathe now, Sicheng immediately grabbing the nearest water bottle (which happened to be Ten’s, much to Ten’s dismay), tipping it to Taeyong’s lips and letting him swallow down nearly half the bottle before he pulled it away and rubbed Taeyong’s back in small, comforting circles.

“You okay, Taeyong-hyung?” Sicheng said, voice only loud enough for Taeyong to hear him. Pink-cheeked and thoroughly embarrassed of his display, Taeyong nodded and hid his face behind his hands while Yuta recovered from his fit of laughter on the floor. He came back up for a breath, spotted Taeyong’s embarrassed flush, and proceeded to break down again as Hansol balled up his napkin and threw it in Yuta’s face.

Taeyong remained at the table even while the others cleared their plates and left to get dressed for dance practice. Doyoung returned in a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, tapping the table and catching Taeyong’s attention as he cleared his throat.

“That was really smooth,” was all Doyoung could say. Taeyong groaned and let his head drop to the table.

  
  
  
  
  


Five days until Christmas, and Taeyong still had no idea what to get Sicheng. Besides the suggestions from Doyoung and Yuta, he had been brainstorming all day, walking past storefronts and debating whether or not if Sicheng would like anything sitting in the windows. As far as clothes went, Sicheng never wore anything too flashy, so most of the clothes Taeyong found hardly felt like something Sicheng would wear, even casually around the dorms or between meetings and practices.

As for every other gift Taeyong thought of, they felt cheap, like they were hardly worthy of being given to Sicheng for Christmas. Maybe he really _was_ overthinking it, he thought as he sighed and turned on his heel to return back to the dorms.

Ambling along the streets of Seoul proved only to frustrate Taeyong more than he thought it would. Besides the nipping, freezing winds that whipped around his head and bit at his fingertips as he tugged the sleeves of his coat lower to cover them, couples upon couples walked together, hand in hand as they giggled and laughed, joked together. Taeyong never thought he’d be one of those people to be jealous of a couple in public, and definitely didn’t think he’d bitterly mimic a girl’s laughter while brushing past her and her boyfriend stopped in the middle of the sidewalk taking a selfie together. This whole gift thing really was making him act funny.

The buzzing of his cell phone in his pocket brought him back from his inner string of thoughts, jumping at the sound of his ringtone before he brought it up to his ear without thinking to check who was calling.

“Taeyong, we ran out of shampoo in the dorms.” Ten said without greeting Taeyong, voice loud and tinny through the phone. He must have been on the speaker, Taeyong thought as he stopped in his tracks and looked around. The nearest store must have been a few blocks back.

“Okay, I’ll go out and pick some up.”

“Thanks!” Ten shouted.

“Chittaphon?” Taeyong said. Ten hesitated in answering for only a second, followed by a noise of acknowledgment. “Could I get your opinion on something really quick?”

“What is it, hyung?”

“I’m... trying to find a gift for somebody. Somebody special.”

“Oooh, is it a woman?” Ten sang. “Do tell.”

“No, it’s not a woman.” Taeyong said flatly.

“A man, then! They’re easier to buy for anyways.”

“First of all, it’s just somebody special, okay?”

“Oh, you’re so sensitive.” Ten said. “Fine, fine, I’ll lay off. What’s the problem then?”

“Well, it’s just.... I can’t think of a gift for them. I mean, I can think of gifts, but everything I think of feels wrong. Like, way too intimate? Or cheap?”

The other line of the call went silent, followed by a loud crashing noise as Ten cursed. Then his voice returned, normal as can be. Taeyong parted his lips, ready to ask what had just happened before he sighed and rubbed his forehead instead. Ten was a strange one, whatever it was, he was sure the others would scold Ten for whatever it was he broke later.

“Honestly, it just sounds like you’re overthinking the gift.” Ten said.

“Look, I’ve been getting that a lot,” Taeyong prefaced with a slightly irritated tone of voice, “but just bear with me, please. What would you get for somebody you like?”

Ten mumbled to himself for a few seconds, then returned and said, “Jewelry! I’d get them jewelry.”

“That’s... a bit much, don’t you think?” Taeyong said. He lowered his voice as another couple walked past him, hands clasped together as they smiled at him. He gave a passing smile when they waved, then grimacing as he hid his face behind his scarf a moment later. The last thing he needed was for somebody to catch him in the act of being a bitter jerk (he was just so ridiculously jealous of these cute couples walking around, why couldn’t he just be _happy_ for them?)

“It’s not like I said you have to buy them a diamond ring. A necklace is a nice gesture, or even earrings. A bracelet? Stuff like that is nice.”

“Are you sure you’re not just dropping hints that you want me to get you new jewelry for your piercings?” Taeyong said.

Ten laughed. “No, of course not. I’m just saying, those kinds of things are nice. Also, since I’m comfortable with buying jewelry, I know what kind of things people do and don’t like. I think buying gifts for somebody should be a comfortable experience.”

“What better way to buy a gift for someone than getting them something you’re comfortable with as well? Is that what you’re getting at?”

“Something like that.” Ten said, before another booming crash followed his voice. He hissed. “Oooh man, I gotta go now. Don’t forget shampoo, okay? Thanks!” The end of his sentence sounded rushed, quiet pants following his words before he hung up without letting Taeyong answer him. Taeyong was already close to the store, not sparing a moment of hesitation as he stepped inside and followed the aisles before finally reaching the bottles of shampoo and conditioner.

If Taeyong did buy Sicheng jewelry, what kind of thing would he like? Sicheng didn’t wear jewelry around the house besides an occasional ring, and buying him one of those for Christmas seemed a bit drastic. Ten and Johnny had managed to get matching rings, but they both claimed they got them by coincidence, that neither one had any idea about the other until it was already too late. Getting matching rings like that for he and Sicheng sounded like a cute idea, but Taeyong decided against it just as he did with all of his other ideas. A necklace didn’t sound so bad, and earrings would actually be a nice gesture... if Sicheng’s ears were actually pierced.

 _This is just getting ridiculous now,_ Taeyong thought. Sicheng was a simple kid, just like himself. If anything, buying a gift for a fellow group member should have been easy beyond belief, despite Taeyong’s feelings for him. He should have thought of something within the first week of worrying about it, at least! Maybe a part of him really liked struggling with this gift thing, since he was so hellbent on making it near impossible to find Sicheng something!

Taeyong’s phone buzzed again, only once with a message notification. Slipping his phone from his pocket, Taeyong found a message from who else but Sicheng.

 **winwin ♥:** **  
** Kun said it’s supposed to rain, be careful! **(4:33 pm)**

Taeyong’s heart fluttered quickly in his chest as he nearly melted in his place in line. How pathetic was he that only a simple sentence from Sicheng had this sort of power over his feelings? Apparently extremely pathetic.

 **T.Y.:** **  
** thank you, winwinnie, i’ll come home safe~ **(4:34 pm)**

 **winwin ♥:** **  
** ♥♥♥ **(4:35 pm)**

Taeyong tucked his phone away in his pocket, didn’t dare to respond to Sicheng’s cute messages with anything else, because he was afraid his response of, _you’re too kind!,_ would somehow warp into, _I’m in love with you, Sicheng._

  
  
  
  
  


Taeyong crossed another day off of the calendar on the fridge. Four more days. Still no luck in the gift department. He had even tried asking his mother for suggestions on what to get for “somebody important,” but she had nothing better than anybody else did. If anything, his question had only served to make her suspicious that he was interested in somebody. His mother was the last person that needed to know about Sicheng.

After bumping his head against the front door to the fridge a few times, as if the action alone would knock some sense into him and make him realize some tremendous gift to give Sicheng, Taeyong turned on his heel without looking up to see somebody else walking into the kitchen. Taeyong butted heads with the other, fell to his butt with a loud yelp while the stranger rubbed his head in circles, immediately reaching his hand out to Taeyong while Taeyong rubbed his own head.

“Are you okay, hyung?!”

Ah, _of course._ Of course it couldn’t have been anybody else, Taeyong thought bitterly, but it just _had_ to be Sicheng that he ran into. Out of everybody in the damn dorm, it was Taeyong’s fate to have these awkward run-ins with Sicheng.

“I’m fine, Sicheng. Are you all right? I knocked your head pretty hard.”

“Don’t mind.” Sicheng said, pulling Taeyong off of the floor and dusting his pants and shirt off. The gesture made Taeyong smile sweetly, heart aching in his chest as he involuntarily lifted his hand from his side and almost moved to rub the spot he had hit Sicheng at. Thankfully, he realized what he was doing just as his fingertips brushed against the dark locks of Sicheng’s hair, before he flinched away as if he had touched an open flame.

“Does it hurt?” Taeyong said. Sicheng shook his head with an apologetic grin on his face.

“Not really. I am very hardheaded.” Sicheng knocked his knuckles against his head for extra measure. Taeyong snickered and pulled his hand away, clasped them in front of them.

“You don’t say it like that. When you say you’re hardheaded, it means you’re stubborn. Maybe... you’ve got a thick skull.”

“Don’t they mean the same thing?”

“Well, no. But I think thick skull is better than hardheaded?” Taeyong pursed his lips, letting out a pensive hum as Sicheng let his eyes trail across Taeyong’s soft features, over his pink pouty lips and the slight dip of his cupid’s bow above his top lip. “Maybe it isn’t. Doyoung knows more about this kind of stuff than I do.”

“It was kind of you to correct me anyways.” Sicheng said. “Thanks, hyung.”

Taeyong nodded, looked around the kitchen for something to distract him so he wouldn’t unabashedly stare at Sicheng, at his chubby cheeks or the curve of his lashes over his cheeks when he fluttered his eyes shut or lowered his gaze to the ground. Even the simple gestures Sicheng did, like pushing his hair away from his face, and biting his bottom lip when he was in deep thought seemed to entrance Taeyong in a way that made his knees weak and his stomach bubble with the threat of butterflies bursting through.

He had tried so hard for months to tell himself that what he felt for Sicheng was fleeting. Besides the fact that they were coworkers (put into simple terms), they were both men. Taeyong didn’t have an issue with that, but there was the matter of fans, of their company, of his family finding out. And most of all, he wasn’t even sure if _Sicheng_ would reciprocate those kinds of feelings.

All of his efforts seemed to be for naught as Sicheng pursed his lips and leaned forward on the tips of his toes, bumping his forehead against Taeyong’s own to catch his attention. Taeyong’s eyes went wide, embarrassment and shock flooding through his veins all at once as he bit back a noise of shock. Sicheng pulled back after noticing how Taeyong blushed as red as a tomato.

“Could I ask you a question?” Sicheng said, though Taeyong could hardly process his words in the moment. Taeyong gestured wildly to the hall.

“U-uhm, actually, I’ve got to go see... someone about _something_ first, it’s— er, it’s an emergency, so... hold that thought.” Taeyong rushed the last part out, not giving Sicheng a moment to argue as he rushed down the hall, sprinting to the end and walking into Mark’s and Jaehyun’s shared room.

Papers were scattered all across Mark’s bed, full of notes and little doodles here and there as he tried to focus on studying. He stopped only to look up at Taeyong, pausing his blaring music.

“Oh, hey, hyung. What’s up?” He said nonchalantly, despite noticing the remaining blush on the apples of Taeyong’s cheeks. Donghyuck looked up from his textbook, waved at Taeyong before returning his attention back to his book as well. Though they had taken exams only a week or so before, Mark knew going back to school would be easier if he got familiar with the material ahead of time, and Donghyuck really just liked to be in the same room while Mark was studying. He said it made him feel more focused if somebody was with him.

“I had to run away from... a thing.” Taeyong said. Mark snorted.

“Things _are_ scary, I guess. Are you going to stay in here for a while?” Mark said. Taeyong slid down to the floor, pulling his knees in close and nodding after he did so. Mark didn’t bother to question Taeyong on why he was acting so strangely. Any other time, he would have dropped everything to talk to him, but he wanted to keep up with is studies first and foremost, and with all the performances they were expected to put on soon, Mark knew this would be one of the few chances he’d get to really buckle down and get it done.

The quiet ambience of Mark’s room was comforting for a while, Taeyong thought. Mark turned his music on again, an instrumental mix of songs that helped him focus on reading instead of listening to lyrics or singing along like he knew he would if he had some other playlist going. Donghyuck wrote clean, organized notes in the margins of the paper in front of him, red pen leaving marks all over the page before he sighed and tapped the bottom of Mark’s foot.

“Here you go.” He said. “All edited. You really need to chill out on the commas, Mark. One of your paragraphs was legitimately one long sentence. Take a breath.”

“This is why I ask _you_ to edit my papers.” Mark said with a giddy smile. “Thank you!”

Donghyuck waved off the sweet tone of voice and turned his gaze back down to his textbook. “Maybe later you can help me with some of this math. I don’t understand any of it.”

“Do I look like someone who excelled at math?” Mark said with a laugh.

“Well, you’ve made it this far in school, so you must be doing something right!” Donghyuck protested, making Mark and Taeyong both laugh at his loud reaction. His cheeks went red, and he pushed himself up to his feet. “I gotta pee. ‘Scuse me, TY.” Donghyuck said, Taeyong smiling at the affectionate nickname before scooting away from the door to let Donghyuck slip past.

As the door shut, Taeyong let his eyes wander over to Mark.

“He edits your papers?”

“Ah, yeah.” Mark said sheepishly, scratching his cheek with his index finger. “He’s the only one I trust not to make fun of my handwriting since it looks like chicken scratch. I tried getting Jeno’s help with it once, and he said that he couldn’t read it no matter how hard he tried. Renjun took one look at it and said it didn’t even look like Korean, so... Hyuck is the only one that can somehow read it.”

“That’s really nice of him.” Taeyong said. “Who knew?”

“Oh please, we’ve always known he’s a big softie.” Mark laughed. “He even leaves little doodles in the margins. See?” Mark turned the paper around and handed it to Taeyong as he traced his eyes over the small figures in the corners of the page, between paragraphs and after sentences. A few of them came with little comments and edits for the paper, and other ones just said cute little phrases like, _“Keep going, Mark!”_ and, _“Nice job!”_ They were adorable, Taeyong thought as he handed it back.

The door swung open again, Donghyuck returning from the restroom and plopping down in his same spot on the floor. Mark offered to trade places, but Donghyuck waved his hand and kept working on a few math problems from earlier.

“Hey, Mark, what did you end up getting Jaehyun for Christmas?” Donghyuck prompted. Mark parted his lips and flushed lightly in embarrassment.

“Oh, th-that. I just got him a gift card. I didn’t know what to get for him. Doyoung stole my idea of getting him cooking stuff, so I had to settle for something else.”

“A _gift card?”_ Donghyuck said incredulously.

“Shut up! I tried really hard to think of something else, but it was too hard to figure out what he’d want.”

Taeyong laughed from his side of the room. “It’s okay, Mark, I’m having the same issue.”

“Are you?” Mark said. “See? _Everybody_ has trouble buying gifts, Hyuck. Considering there’s, like, five hundred of us in these dorms too, it makes sense that it’s hard.”

“Wait, were we supposed to get gifts for everybody? I think I got presents for like... three people.” Donghyuck counted on his hand. “You’re not one of them, TY-hyung.”

“I figured, brat.” Taeyong said with a wide grin. “And no, you didn’t have to get gifts for everyone. We decided if we just got gifts for whoever we wanted this year, it’d be easier on our wallets.”

“Even buying three gifts felt like a lot.” Donghyuck said.

“Cheap Donghyuck!” Mark stuck his tongue out.

“I didn’t get you anything either, _Murk.”_ Donghyuck burst into laughter at Mark’s expression.

Taeyong shifted in his spot on the floor. “Mark?”

“Hm.”

“If you had to get a gift for somebody... important... what would you get them? For Christmas, I mean.”

“Somebody important?” Mark said. “Like a girlfriend?”

“Maybe not that close. Just... important. You know?”

Mark nodded, tapping his pen against his chin. “Well.... If they were someone important to me, then I’d get them candy!”

“Candy?”

“Yeah! Everybody likes candy. There’s no way to go wrong with sweet stuff, especially on the holidays. There’s chocolates and caramels, lollipops, candy canes, even gumdrops and stuff like that.... Not to mention cakes and cookies! Ah, just thinking about it makes me want some!” Mark sighed and threw himself back on his bed, landing on a pile of papers and watching them fly around and land on the floor in front of Donghyuck. Donghyuck set his own book down with a quiet huff, picking up Mark’s papers in a pile and throwing them on his stomach as Mark made a face at Donghyuck behind his back. Taeyong stifled a giggle at the two of them. Their natural back and forth stemmed from being comfortable together was adorable in a way that made Taeyong feel almost jealous of the two.

“Well, thank you for the suggestion.” Taeyong said as he pushed himself off of the floor and onto his feet. “I think it’s the best one I’ve had so far.”

“Wow, really?” Mark said after pushing himself up on his elbows. “How many people have you asked? I bet Hansol-hyung would have some good ideas.”

“He would, wouldn’t he?” Taeyong said. “Good idea. I’ll ask him soon.”

“Good luck figuring out a gift, hyung! Let me know how it goes.” Mark said as Taeyong opened the door to his room and apologized for interrupting his study time.

Whether it was Mark’s childlike demeanor or just the fact that he really did offer a decent idea that lifted Taeyong’s mood, he found his heart was even lighter when he spotted Sicheng sitting on his own bed, door wide open as Taeyong stopped, waved, and in return, received the brightest, toothiest grin from Sicheng.

  
  
  
  
  


Asking Hansol about his idea for a gift seemed to be the easiest, yet least useful of all the people he had asked.

Hansol liked to stay in the dance practice room for hours upon hours to practice moves he had learned on his own. While he enjoyed working with the groups, he felt he just didn’t fit in with their choreography, which Taeyong understood. Most of the time, Taeyong protested when it came to just how much time Hansol spent in there, but this time, he appreciated the privacy.

The two only spared each other quick glances, Hansol rushing to the table and pausing his music as he turned to face Taeyong. He was a panting, red faced mess, sweat rolling down the sides of his face and along the veins in his neck as he grinned and lifted the collar of his shirt to wipe his upper lip. Despite Hansol’s long legs and lanky figure, his movements had a dancer’s fluidity to them. If Taeyong didn’t know better, he’d say he was smitten with Hansol. Every move of his body, the shift of his weight from one foot to the other, the way his chest moved up and down with each heavy breath he took; everything about him screamed he was a dancer.

“What’s up?” He said. Taeyong flinched at the sound of his voice, awkwardly moved to rub his neck. Honestly, he hadn’t even thought of small talk to lead into the topic of asking about Christmas gifts, but he didn’t just want to jump right in. He was being suspicious enough as it was by saying, “somebody important,” every time he asked someone in the dorms. Mark asked that morning if Taeyong had thought of a gift yet, and Yuta even showed interest when Taeyong said he was leaving, curious to know what kind of gift Taeyong was buying, even though he was only leaving to find Hansol.

His silence must have spoke volumes, because Hansol grinned and waved Taeyong over. “You’re going to ask about Christmas presents, aren’t you?”

Stuttering, searching for words, all Taeyong could do was nod. “How’d you....”

“...guess? Yuta has a big mouth, he told me you’ve been asking around the dorms a lot.” Hansol snickered as Taeyong’s cheeks went pink, annoyed that Yuta had been blabbering about it, as if he needed anybody else to know about how desperate he felt to find something for his “somebody special”. “Who’s the special person?”

“Just a person.” Taeyong said.

“It’s somebody under the company, right?” Hansol quipped. Taeyong furrowed his brows and squinted at Hansol. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell. In fact, I’ll tell you mine.”

“Your what?”

“My special person. My “somebody important.”” Hansol said. He waved Taeyong over once more, sitting down on the floor of the dance studio against the wall furthest from the mirror. Taeyong followed, sliding down beside him and looking in front of him to find his reflection staring back. “But if they happen to be the same person, I’m gonna have to fight you, fair warning.”

“I _hope_ it’s not the same person.” Taeyong said, tried to feign a laugh, though his brain was telling him he’d stand no chance against Hansol, both in a fight and in trying to win somebody over.

“It’s Yuta.” Hansol said abruptly, without warning or even so much as lowering his voice. Taeyong blushed— for whatever reason. Hansol didn’t even appear bothered by the fact that he said it. Instead, he tilted his head to the side, hair falling the way he was turned as he sighed. “It’s been Yuta for a long time.”

“R-really?” Taeyong said. Hansol nodded. “How long?”

“Hm.... Since we were scouted?” Hansol said, but then shook his head. “Maybe a little afterwards. I don’t believe in love at first sight.”

_Love._

Taeyong shivered at the sound of how Hansol said the word so clearly. How could he talk about this kind of thing so plainly, confident and sure in his words as if he had never questioned them once?

“So maybe a few months after. Or a year. I don’t remember a specific time, really. But yeah, it’s him.”

“Oh.... That’s— er, that’s sweet.” Taeyong struggled to find the words. Hansol laughed.

“It’s okay if you’re weirded out. We’re both guys, it makes sense—”

“No! I’m definitely not freaked out, I just... need a second to process.” Taeyong said.

“So... is it the same person?”

Despite the voice telling him not to say anything, Taeyong shook his head.

“Then is it a woman?”

Again, the voice told him to keep quiet for once in his life.

“N-no.” Taeyong said softly. “And... it’s somebody in the group.”

“Hey, don’t force yourself.” Hansol said, patting Taeyong’s knee with calloused fingers before he shrugged. “You don’t have to tell me because I told you. I just wanted to tell you to make you more comfortable. You don’t have to worry about me judging you since I like a guy... unless it’s a kid. If it’s a kid, I’m _also_ gonna have to fight you.” Hansol said, making Taeyong burst into a quiet fit of giggles. Hansol laughed with him, pulling his hand back and grinning at Taeyong through the mirror.

“Don’t be weird, hyung. It’s... uhm, it’s Sicheng, actually.”

“Oh, really?” Hansol said, jaw slack with slight shock. “Hm.”

“What?” Taeyong said. Hansol shrugged. “No, what is it? Tell me!”

“I guess it just makes sense now that I know.”

“Am I painfully obvious?” Taeyong said.

“No, not painfully. Just a little. Like, if you told the others, I’m sure they’d see it too.” Hansol tried to placate Taeyong’s worried tone, though his words only served to concern him more.

If Hansol could see it after only hearing who it was, how easy was it for everybody else to see it. Could Sicheng tell? Did he find it odd that Taeyong was interested in him, but just didn’t know how to mention it? Was he forcing himself to be comfortable with Taeyong, and just couldn’t find the right way to tell Taeyong to go away? Maybe he was! Maybe he—

“Stop.” Hansol said, voice catching Taeyong off guard. “I know you’re overthinking it already. I didn’t mean you’re obvious. Just that it makes sense, you care about him a lot.”

“If we based it off of who we care about a lot, then I would’ve figured you liked Johnny or something.” Taeyong grumbled.

“Touché.” Hansol said. “I really didn’t mean you’re obvious, though. It’s just one of those things that clicks once you find out.”

Taeyong nodded, tried to will his mind to calm down and tell himself that he wasn’t obvious to anybody else, especially Sicheng. Hansol let the silence settle between them instead of rushing Taeyong to speak anymore than he already had.

“So... what did you get for Yuta?” Taeyong said. Hansol grinned sheepishly.

“Nothing.”

“Oh, c’mon, that smile says you got him something.” Taeyong nudged Hansol, watched as Hansol went pink-cheeked with embarrassment before he sighed and spoke again.

“He told me about this movie he saw before coming here. He said it was the last Japanese movie he saw _in_ Japan, so I bought it on DVD for him. It’s not anything big or—”

“That is... so cute.” Taeyong exclaimed, reaching over and shaking Hansol back and forth. “Are you always this sappy, Hansol? Sappy, cheesy, greasy Hansol!”

“Oh my god, leave me alone.” Hansol said with a few weak laughs.

“Does Yuta know? About the way you feel, I mean.”

Hansol’s shoulders rose visibly, body tensing up as Taeyong let his hands fall from his shoulders and back to his sides. He already knew the answer before Hansol could offer it, shaking his head and looking down at his lap while twiddling his fingers.

“I’m sorry, Hansol. I didn’t mean to....”

“It’s okay!” Hansol said, his tone an octave higher than normal as he tried to feign a calm tone of voice and go along. “Truthfully, I don’t think Yuta would react well. Besides that, we’re coworkers before anything else. I don’t want to run the risk of ruining our work relationship just because of some stupid feelings, you know?” Hansol lifted his hands defensively when he noticed how Taeyong deflated with his words, how he suddenly frowned and nodded. “Don’t take that the wrong way, Taeyong. If you want to tell Sicheng at some point, that’s okay! I just... can’t imagine doing it myself. If... if my relationship with Yuta was different after confessing, I’d never be able to forgive myself. So it’s just easier not to in my case. But I think... if you did confess to Sicheng, it wouldn’t be the same as my situation.”

“But you don’t _know_ that Sicheng would react well either.”

“Look, man,” Hansol began, “I don’t know a lot of things. You could say I don’t know how Yuta would react if I confessed to him too, but you’re not disputing that. You’re just saying I don’t know about Sicheng because you’re doubting yourself.” Hansol reasoned, running his fingers through his sweat soaked hair. “I know you didn’t come to ask for this advice, so I’ll just give you what you came for. Give Sicheng something that reminds him of home. Whatever it is, as long as it reminds him of being back home, he’ll love it.”

“But how do you know for sure?” Taeyong said.

“Yuta bought me the Train to Busan DVD on my birthday. It’s a good movie, don’t get me wrong, but all I really cared about was the look on Yuta’s face when he gave it to me. He was so stupidly happy, he just kept talking about how, “it’s a movie about Busan, Hansol, it’s a movie about Busan, that’s where you’re from!”” Hansol mimicked Yuta’s tone of voice. “Seoul isn’t even that far from Busan, but Yuta was worried about me being homesick. Imagine how he... well, Sicheng _and_ Yuta must feel being so far from home. So that’s how I know for sure. If I loved getting that Train to Busan DVD, then I’m certain Sicheng would love getting even just something small that reminded him of home.”

Taeyong nodded, expression brightening as he lifted his hand from his sides and set them down on his lap instead. With a new resolve, he got up from the practice room’s floor and swept the dirt from his jeans.

“Mark was right when he said you’d have good ideas.”

“I try.” Hansol smiled.

“Who knew you were such a sappy romantic guy, Hansol?” Taeyong teased. Hansol stood up and pushed Taeyong towards the door, sending him out of the room so he could return to dancing until his legs ached and his body begged for a shower and some sleep. He’d need it after just confessing all of that cheesy stuff to Taeyong anyways.

  
  
  
  
  


Two days until Christmas. After asking Hansol and getting his decent (albeit, challenging) idea, Taeyong hadn’t had much of a chance to think about gifts and presents more. They had a meeting with their manager and the company, and began working on new stages to perform, as they still had responsibilities as idols even during the holidays. The fans expected more from them, more music and dances, so Taeyong found himself trying to motivate the others enough to make it through the day. They had another interview to do, and then finally they could come back to the dorms and rest.

Donghyuck had seemed more irritable than normal, which is to say, more than ever before. Considering Donghyuck made the mood most of the time in the group, his lethargic and annoyed demeanor spread from himself to Mark, Mark to Jaehyun, Jaehyun to Doyoung and Ten, and so on, until the entire van was silent and bugged for no reason other than the fact that Donghyuck was.

The van slowed to a stop in front of the location they’d be filming at next. Taeyong hopped out first, nearly falling flat on his face before he felt somebody grab his shirt and steady him. He turned to thank them, found himself staring at Sicheng, and didn’t say anything.

“Careful, hyung, you’ll get hurt if you try to jump out of the car like that.” Sicheng said, hopping out after Taeyong and standing up straight. He was hardly taller than Taeyong, only by a few inches, but it was enough to make a shiver run down his spine. “I have to ask you something. Can we talk later?” Sicheng gestured vaguely towards the van to show he meant once they were finished and on the way back to the dorms.

“What about?”

“Uh... just stuff!” Sicheng said before rushing off with Jaehyun and Doyoung, pushing himself between the two and disappearing inside of the building for their interview.

Taeyong felt somebody nudge the back of his knee, found Donghyuck frowning at him as he apologized and started up the stairs alongside Donghyuck. They walked in relative silence, other than Taeyong’s quiet hums or when he cleared his throat to try and broach a conversational topic with Donghyuck. Either way, Donghyuck seemed like he didn’t want anything to do with Taeyong.

“Donghyuck?” Taeyong said as they approached the second flight of stairs, where Doyoung and the others were trickling in. “You okay?”

“No.” Donghyuck huffed.

“What’s the matter?” Taeyong stopped Donghyuck in his tracks, Mark staring from the door as Doyoung tried to rush him in and get them all settled for the broadcast they all had. “You can tell me when something is bothering you, you know. Is it someone in the group? Are you uncomfortable with someone in the group?”

“No, hyung.” Donghyuck said, glancing up at Mark and found he was still standing at the door, waiting for the two of them.

“Are you sure?” Taeyong said. Donghyuck looked at Taeyong, frowning again and crossing his arms over his chest.

“I was going to be passive aggressive about it, but seeing as you’re not one to catch onto those kinds of things, I’ll have to say it out loud.”

“Wait, what?” Taeyong said. “ _Me?_ What did I do?”

“You asked Mark-hyung for his opinion on a Christmas gift, but you didn’t bother to ask me!” Donghyuck whined childishly, a pink flush on his cheeks as Taeyong felt his heart pause, then laughter bubbled from his chest and out as he clapped his hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder, pulling him in for a tight embrace.

“Is that all you’re upset about?” Taeyong sighed. “It wasn’t anything personal, Donghyuck, really! I just didn’t think you cared.”

“I know about Christmas way more than Mark does! Candy is inconvenient anyways.” Donghyuck pushed Taeyong off of him and pointed an accusatory finger towards him. “Candy sounds like a good idea, but if your special person is an idol under the company, then she’s gonna gain weight, and they’re gonna make her diet, all because you gave her candy.”

Taeyong smiled, despite Donghyuck’s assumption that it was a woman under the company, and messed with his hair. “You’re right. It does seem counterproductive. What would you give to your special person, then?”

“Clothes.” Donghyuck said straight and to the point. “Sweaters, shirts, stuff like that. Anything else is too inconvenient of a gift and you’re just being a bother.”

Taeyong hummed, lips pressed together in a thin line as he rocked back and forth on his feet. “I guess that’s a good idea.”

“It’s an amazing idea! It’s so good, I almost might not let you take credit for it. Unless you ask. Maybe if you ask me nicely, I’ll give you _some_ credit.” Donghyuck crossed his arms in front of him. Taeyong snorted with laughter again, enamored by Donghyuck’s childish display.

Sometimes it slipped his mind that Donghyuck was as young as he was. He worked just as hard, if not harder, than the older members while dealing with homework, exams, school, friends outside of the company, and his own family, all while working with the group to make sure NCT was the best it could possibly be. It was easy to forget simple things like that while being lost in their own separate worlds.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, but I’m still not even sure what I want to get for my special person yet. But I think your idea is one of the best ones I’ve heard.”

“One of the best?” Donghyuck said. “Which ones were better? What could be better than getting clothes for Christmas?”

For a second, Taeyong almost let Hansol’s idea spill first. Donghyuck would’ve been able to easily narrow down who it was if Taeyong said something that reminded his special person of home. So he just messed with Donghyuck’s hair some more and started walking him in the direction of the room, Mark shooting them both odd looks and sitting down beside Donghyuck as soon as they approached the table they would start their broadcast from. Mark nudged Donghyuck, whispering lowly as Taeyong greeted their interviewers. Donghyuck pinched Mark’s cheek and smiled.

“Nothing is wrong, Mark! Get that look off your face anyways, you look constipated.”

“Jeez, what happened to grumpy Hyuck?” Mark said, rubbing the spot Donghyuck pinched and making a face at him.

“I wasn’t grumpy.” Donghyuck protested, to which the other members burst into loud shouts of disbelief and argued back that he was the grumpiest they had seen him in a long time. Despite the growing blush on his face, Donghyuck shot a beaming smile to Taeyong more than once during the interview. _Such a kid,_ Taeyong thought as he turned his attention back to the interview.

  
  


Taeyong waited for “later” to come. It felt like days had passed since Sicheng had said he needed to talk to Taeyong about something. Maybe Sicheng forgot that he had asked, or maybe he just decided against asking Taeyong. Whatever the reason, Sicheng never brought it up with Taeyong again.

Taeyong had to pretend he wasn’t utterly disappointed by that fact.

  
  
  
  
  


“He’s doing that thing again.” Jaehyun said, nudging Doyoung from their spot in the hall as Doyoung tightened the towel around his waist. Doyoung looked down the hall where Jaehyun was pointing, found Taeyong curled up on the couch in a ball. Burrowed into a blanket, only Taeyong’s eyes peered over the top of the blanket. The rest of him was covered. Doyoung sighed.

“I already tried to help him once.”

“Hey, you never did tell me what his problem was.” Jaehyun said, slipping inside of Doyoung’s room as he moved to get dressed.

“Get out of my room.” Doyoung ordered. Jaehyun sat down on Doyoung’s bed, stretching his limbs out on the blankets and pillows.

“Make me.”

“You are _such_ a child.” Doyoung mumbled, grabbing a pair of boxers and jeans from his dresser, all the while holding his towel at his waist. “Anyways, don’t worry about Taeyong. He’s freaking himself out over nothing. I don’t feel bad for him anymore.”

“Don’t you think you’re being a little excessive?” Jaehyun said. Doyoung glanced at him over his shoulder.

“I’m not trying to be mean, I’m just saying he’s making himself anxious—”

“No, not that.” Jaehyun grinned and gestured to the towel still held tightly around Doyoung’s waist. “I’ve already seen, you know, everything. The towel is a little much.”

Doyoung’s jaw dropped, picking up a pillow from Johnny’s bed and quickly beating Jaehyun with it. “Out! Outta my room, get out!” Doyoung repeated, finally kicking Jaehyun out of his room and locking the door behind him so he couldn’t follow. Jaehyun laughed, knocking on the door and earning a, “Fuck off, Jaehyun!” from Doyoung in response to his efforts.

Taeyong was still sulking on the couch. If it was even possible, he was burrowed deeper into the blanket around him, barely peeking over the top of the blanket, not that he was particularly interested in whatever was on the TV anyways.

As Jaehyun had the split second thought to bug Taeyong about what was bothering him, Jeno came spilling from his room in a fit of giggles, followed by loud yells from Jaemin, who was still on “bed rest” due to the injury in his back.

“What’d you steal from him now?” Jaehyun said as Jeno came up, holding up Jaemin’s phone and stuffing it away in his pocket. “Oh c’mon, that’s just cruel. It’s the only thing he has while he’s holed up in his room.”

“I guess he’ll just have to come out here and get it from me.” Jeno shrugged, bumping his fist against Jaehyun’s before he noticed where Jaehyun was staring. Taeyong snuggled in closer with his blankets, finally covering everything except for the top of his head. “Oh. He’s been acting weird the past week, hasn’t he?” Jeno jutted his thumb towards Taeyong. “I’m worried. When he’s upset, doesn’t he cry?”

“Yeah, he’s a big sap.” Jaehyun ran his fingers through his hair. “So he’s probably not too upset. Doyoung said he’s just worried about something. I wonder what—”

“I can hear you, you know.” Taeyong said, voice muffled slightly by the blankets, but not enough to mask the slightly irritated tone. “It’s not like the hall is a world away from the living room.”

Jeno tensed, turning to Jaehyun for an answer, only to find that Jaehyun had disappeared into his own room, waving Jeno down the hall and pointing to Taeyong. Jeno furrowed his brows and lifted his arms up at his sides.

“Go ask him what’s bugging him!” Jaehyun hissed. Jeno, always one to listen, followed Jaehyun’s instructions, approached Taeyong in the living room before he sat down in a chair just to the side of the couch. He cleared his throat to catch Taeyong’s attention, Taeyong poking his head just enough from the bundle of blankets before pulling them down more and smiling warmly at Jeno. Relaxing a little at the expression on Taeyong’s face, Jeno pulled his legs up on the chair and crossed them.

“You doing okay, hyung?”

“Hm?” Taeyong said, then nodded his head, as if just processing his words. “Oh. Yeah, I’m doing fine. Just a little chilly out here, is all.”

“You... uh, you haven’t moved from that spot since Mark and I came back from buying Christmas presents.”

“....Did you not just come home five minutes ago?” Taeyong pointed to the door. Jeno laughed, then quickly covered his mouth and apologized.

“Er, more like three hours ago, hyung.”

“Wow,” was all Taeyong could say. Jeno awkwardly rubbed his neck, sitting back in the seat while searching for a way out of the situation Jaehyun had forced him into. If Jeno looked down the hall, he found Jaehyun was still peeking through the crack in his door, waving Jeno along in the conversation. “Jeno?”

“Yes, hyung!” Jeno jumped at the sound of Taeyong’s voice. Taeyong laughed, sitting up and letting the blankets fall around his arms.

“If you had somebody really important in your life, what kind of gift would you get them for Christmas?”

“Somebody important... like, family important, or relationship important?”

“....Relationship important.” Taeyong said softly.

Jeno unconsciously flushed, cheeks bright red as he squirmed in his seat and tried to find something else to focus on. It wasn’t that he was uncomfortable with talking about relationship stuff. His friends at school usually teased Jeno for not being able to date even though he was seventeen, because of the company’s unspoken rules on dating. But hearing Taeyong talk about it, albeit quietly and with a hint of embarrassment in his voice, still made Jeno feel like he was imposing on Taeyong’s personal business.

“Uh.... Well, I-I don’t know, hyung.” Jeno said. “I guess the best thing would be to give them love, wouldn’t it?”

Taeyong shivered again at the sound of the word. If Jeno noticed, he didn’t mention it.

“If they’re somebody really important in that way, then just loving them would be enough. But that’s just me, I don’t know what kind of gift hyung was thinking of...?”

Taeyong smiled and threw a pillow from the couch at Jeno, making Jeno laugh despite how flustered he felt after being asked a question like that.

“That’s a good idea. If somebody is really that important to me, then I should show them that, right?”

“Right.” Jeno said just as the door at the end of the hall swung open, followed by Jaemin taking a step out and immediately narrowing his gaze to Jeno.

“Give my phone back!” Jaemin shouted, running as quickly as he possibly could without bothering his back more than it already had been, while Jeno apologized to Taeyong and scrambled off of the chair, sprinting down the opposite hall and disappearing as Jaemin struggled to keep up with him.

Truthfully, Taeyong had resigned himself to the fact that he just couldn’t quite figure out a gift for Sicheng. He had one day to Christmas. While the shops were still open for him to go out and pick something up, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. The crushing disappointment of not knowing what to get for Sicheng was enough to keep him from leaving his spot on the couch.

That was, until Hansol came from his room, spotted Taeyong on the couch, and proceeded to lift him to his feet.

“Get dressed now.” Hansol ordered. Taeyong parted his lips to protest, but Hansol shut him up by pointing to Taeyong’s room and ordered him to get dressed again. Taeyong did as he was told, got dressed in a minute and returned with his shoes in hand. Hansol crossed his arms, tapping his foot and gesturing to Taeyong’s shoes as Taeyong sunk to the floor and tugged them on.

“Really, hyung, you’re being—”

“Don’t come back until you’ve gotten Sicheng a gift.” Hansol said firmly, following Taeyong to the door and pulling money from his wallet, shoving it in the pocket of Taeyong’s jacket and slamming the door shut before he could protest. Taeyong, blinking away his shock, realized he didn’t even have his phone to ask anybody to let him back in the dorms behind Hansol’s back.

“Hyung, let me in!” Taeyong brought his fist down on the door, knocking wildly and kicking it a few times for extra measure, but Hansol didn’t appear to be making any moves to open the door. Taeyong sighed and knocked one last time, to which Hansol knocked back and kept him from entering the locked dorms. “What’s the money for, at least?”

“A present, dummy.” Hansol said. “Don’t come back without one. If you do, I’ll sic Ten on you.”

“He’s not a dog!” Taeyong objected.

“A dog?”

Taeyong flinched at the foreign voice from behind him, immediately turning and slamming his back against the door as Hansol let out a quiet, _“Oof!”_  in response to Taeyong’s movement.

“Sicheng!” Taeyong exclaimed loud enough for Hansol to hear him through the door. “Hi! Nice to see you here!”

“At... our dorms.” Sicheng said. Taeyong nodded frantically, trying to relax himself enough to appear casual, but it didn’t seem like Hansol cared anymore about opening the door than he had earlier. In fact, he leaned against the door and kept himself wedged against it just in case Taeyong tried to kick it open when he was off his guard. “Where are you going?”

“O-oh, nowhere. I was just trying to get into the dorms again. Hansol locked me out.”

“He did?” Sicheng said. Taeyong scooted to the side, making sure to steer clear of making any contact with Sicheng as he approached the door and knocked lightly. Then he cleared his throat, barely able to get a word out as Hansol opened the door quickly, tugged Sicheng inside by his shirt, and then locked it again before Taeyong could even blink.

“Wh— Hey! Hansol, you ass!” Taeyong beat his fists against the door. Sicheng’s quiet giggles filtered through his occasional whacks against the door, Taeyong slowing to a stop as he heard Hansol quietly speaking to Sicheng, and Sicheng responding. Taeyong half expected Hansol’s voice to return and tease him about the run-in he just had, but instead, Sicheng spoke.

“Hyung, please go out and do whatever it is Hansol asked you to do.” Sicheng said sweetly, Taeyong’s knees practically buckling underneath him at the honeyed tone of voice Sicheng used. No doubt Hansol had asked Sicheng to say something like that. “And I’d really love it if you picked up some ice cream! Oh, and I still need to talk to you about something important later!”

Sighing, knowing that he was weak to any requests Sicheng would give him, even though the first one was to go pick up some disappointing Christmas gifts, Taeyong rested his forehead against the door and let out a weak, “Okay,” before disappearing downstairs and out to the cold nipping winter streets of Seoul. It had been snowing earlier that morning, and the sidewalks were icy and slippery at some parts. Taeyong damned himself for not grabbing his scarf before being forcibly removed from the dorms, but he couldn’t even call and ask Hansol to give it to him.

Taeyong went through his mental list. Flowers, food, jewelry, candy, things that remind Sicheng of home, clothes, and... love. How Taeyong was supposed to buy the last one, he had no idea. But he had to start somewhere, so he walked down the sidewalk and started towards the first store to begin buying Sicheng presents.

  
  
  
  
  


By the time Taeyong made it home, most of the others were fast asleep. They had a party the following day with the company, which meant staying up later than they should have, and drinking on the older member’s parts. Ten was already excited to have an excuse to drink, all the while Doyoung scolded him for being such a lush, even though Doyoung drank more than Ten ever did at the company parties.

Taeyong crept into the dorm rooms, noisy paper bags hanging off of his arms as he stepped in and made mindful movements through the living room to keep quiet. Thankfully, he didn’t have to worry about waking up Taeil, because he was visiting family for the past week, so Taeyong could make as much noise as possible once he made it to the safety of his room.

Hansol’s bedroom light was off, which meant Doyoung and him were snoozing comfortably while Taeyong crept into his bedroom, swinging the door all the way open and searching for the light switch.

As soon as he flicked the light on, he found Hansol sitting on his bed, legs crossed as he smiled.

And— well, Taeyong reacted the way any other normal person would.

He screamed, dropped his presents, and picked up the nearest thing to throw at Hansol. Thankfully it was just one of the stuffed animals Taeyong kept from the fans, but Hansol burst into laughter nevertheless, holding the stuffed animal and falling over on Taeyong’s bed while Taeyong flushed bright red and promptly closed his bedroom door.

“I can’t believe I used to think you were a nice, quiet person!” Taeyong hissed under his breath. Hansol rolled over on the bed, falling off the edge and onto the floor with a loud thud.

“The look on your face was so worth sitting here for four hours in the dark.”

“Four hours? You sat here alone for four hours!?” Taeyong said. “Why?!”

“I never said I was alone.” Hansol said, pointing to Taeil’s bed where Johnny lounged, waving his hand. Taeyong gasped quietly this time, not about to scream like he had before.

“Oh my god, you two. Why am I not surprised?” Taeyong picked up the bags he had dropped earlier, setting them down on the edge of his bed as Hansol nosily reached forward and began searching through each of the presents. Taeyong flushed as Johnny crawled off of the bed and started to look through the gifts as well, even though he had no idea what the gifts were about, or who he bought them for.

“What is this stuff?” Hansol said, pulling out a packet of flower seeds, followed by parchment paper and a few paintbrushes. “Seriously, what _is_ this stuff?”

“You told me not to come back without buying a present. Well, there are the presents!” Taeyong said. “Everything that everyone suggested, I bought.”

“I told you to buy something that reminds them of home, not... paper. And candy? And what’s this?” Hansol pulled out gift after gift, Taeyong pushing them back in the bags and snatching them away as he pointed to the door.

“I bought presents, I held up my part. Now you get outta here.” Taeyong said. Hansol tried to protest, but Taeyong pointed to the door again, Johnny and Hansol leaving with pouting expressions on their faces.

Taeyong picked up his phone from the dresser, where he had left it before Hansol so rudely kicked him out. Taeyong scrolled through the messages he had gotten, most of them from Hansol and Johnny teasing him about how he had forgotten his phone in the midst of being kicked out. The most recent few were from Sicheng.

 **winwin ♥:** **  
** Are you back? **(8:03 pm)**

 **winwin ♥:** **  
** No? **(8:19 pm)**

 **winwin ♥:** **  
** Ge-ge! TT TT **(8:30 pm)**

 **winwin ♥:** **  
** Hyung!! TT TT TT TT **(9:12 pm)**

 **winwin ♥:** **  
** I’m going to bed early. Please talk to me tomorrow!! **(9:41 pm)**

 **winwin ♥:** **  
** ..... **(9:57 pm)**

 **winwin ♥:** **  
** ♥ **(9:58 pm)**

Taeyong dropped his phone on the bed with a sigh. There was no use responding to Sicheng’s texts now. Once he fell asleep, he was out like a light, and besides that, Taeyong had work to do, apparently. As he pulled the gifts from their bags and set up the paper on the floor, he wondered just what it was Sicheng had wanted to talk about.

  
  
  
  
  


A loud crash came from the hall, followed by a loud yell and playful giggles as Taeyong awoke and jumped out of bed. He ran to his front door, swung the door wide open, and found Johnny standing in his doorway covered in snow. Doyoung appeared behind Johnny, stifling his giggles with his hand as Johnny shivered and shook with the snow littered in his hair and across his shoulders. Three empty buckets rolled on the floor beside Johnny. Lifting his arms from his sides, Johnny shook some snow off and looked up down the hall. Taeyong followed Johnny’s gaze to Ten’s room, where Ten stood in the doorway, a wide grin on his face as he erupted into laughter.

“It worked.” He said softly. Johnny glared at him. “It worked! Yes!”

“I’m gonna kick your ass.” Johnny said, tugging his shirt off from over his head and throwing it on the ground with the pile of melting snow. Ten snickered.

“Oh yeah? You’ll have to get in my room first!”

“Someone has to come out and clean this mess!” Doyoung shouted after Johnny and Ten, Johnny managing to slip inside of Ten’s room as he slammed the door shut, followed by a few loud thuds and shrieks of laughter from Ten behind the door. Doyoung looked at Taeyong from his spot in the doorway, pointing at the ever-growing puddle of water in front of his room as Taeyong nodded and lifted his hand. As the leader, apparently it was his responsibility to lecture the others when it came time for it, though it hardly seemed fair to pin it all on him.

Taeyong walked out of his bedroom, knocking on Ten’s door as the others retreated to their shared rooms quietly, ready to get a few more hours of sleep without being interrupted by Ten’s pranks so early in the morning.

“Ten, you really do need to clean up the mess you made in the hall. There’s water everywhere.” Taeyong said, trying his best to sound annoyed, when in reality, he was a little amused by the clever prank. _That_ must have been what Ten was trying to do when he was on the phone with Taeyong when he asked him about Christmas gifts. “Ten?” Taeyong repeated, knocking on the door again before reaching for the doorknob and jiggling it. The door opened slightly, their laughter and voices dying down as Taeyong opened the door very slightly and found Ten staring down at Johnny, face flushed pink as he held Johnny’s arms down at either side of his head.

“What... what did you say?” Ten said softly. Johnny frowned and looked away, tried to push Ten off of him, but Ten beared down with all of his weight to keep him in place. “What did you say, Johnny?”

“I said Merry Christmas. Get off of me.” Johnny tried again, only to fail once more. “Ten, c’mon, all I said was Merry Christmas.”

“Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn’t say anything else.” Ten said. Though there was force behind his words, there was an unmistakable vulnerable tone as he spoke, hands loosening from Johnny’s arms and letting him go. “Tell me you didn’t say what I think you said.”

“What do you think I said?”

“Johnny!” Ten snapped.

“Okay, okay, fine.” Johnny sighed. “Maybe I did say... _that._ It was an accident though. I didn’t mean for it to come out that way.”

“But you meant it?” Ten said. Johnny nodded. “Wait here.”

“On the floor?” Johnny said, Ten not bothering to give him a response as he ran towards his dresser, barely catching a glimpse of Taeyong in the doorway as he winked at him, grabbed a small box from the top of his dresser, and turned to Johnny again. He fell to the floor, crossed his legs beneath him, reached out and handed Johnny the box as Johnny sat up and traced his fingers along the top of it carefully. “What is it?”

Ten scoffed. “You gotta open it, stupid. That’s the point of a gift.”

“Ten, I... didn’t get you anything.”

“Again, that’s the point of a gift.” Ten gestured towards the box. “Besides, I got this for you because I wanted to, not because I expected something in return.”

Taeyong watched through his small spot in the doorway, eyes tracing over the box as Johnny lifted one corner of it before pulling it off entirely and found a silver chain sitting inside of the box. Carefully, Johnny pulled the chain from the box. It was simple, nothing too overdone or eccentric for a gift between friends (or whatever it was Ten and Johnny were— Taeyong couldn’t tell), but just enough to make Johnny grin from ear to ear, a light pink blush dusting the apples of his cheeks as Ten smiled with him.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s nice.” Johnny said, holding the chain between his fingers as Ten took it, pulling Johnny’s wrist towards him and letting his fingers linger over the soft part of his wrist for just a second longer than he should have. Then he wrapped the chain around his wrist, hooked the clasp and let Johnny’s wrist go. It sat snug on Johnny’s wrist, but still loose enough to dangle freely and slide slightly down his wrist. Johnny flickered his gaze back up to Ten. Ten nervously tucked a piece of hair behind his ear and straightened his posture. “Cute.”

“The bracelet?” Ten said. “I wasn’t going for cute, I was going for something charming. If it’s too feminine, we can always take it back and get you something else—”

“I meant you.” Johnny teased, pinching Ten’s cheek and making him stumble over his words.

Taeyong cleared his throat from the doorway, caught their attention at the same time as Johnny jerked his wrist back and hid it behind him.

“Taeyong. U-uhm, about the snow, I was gonna clean it, I just—”

“It’s okay.” Taeyong said with a smile. “Just make sure you clean it up before Doyoung has a royal fit.”

“Okay.” Johnny said, moving to stand up while Ten tugged him by his hand, tried to keep him level.

“Have you seen Hansol?” Taeyong said. “I have something to talk to him about.”

“He left earlier to go practice. He said since we’re going to be partying later, he needed to make up for it in the morning.” Ten said, shooting Taeyong a gaze that said something like, _“Get outta here, hyung, I’m busy,”_ so Taeyong thanked him and closed the door to Ten’s room, starting back to his own room to slip on his shoes and start downstairs so he could get back at Hansol for locking him out the day before.

  
  
  
  
  


The practice room was devoid of any music, which was odd. When Hansol was practicing, music usually blared at a decibel Taeyong was shocked didn’t deafen him. Now, the only sound Taeyong could hear was Hansol’s voice, partnered with another person’s, one that took Taeyong only a few seconds to identify.

“Did you leave this on my bed?”

It was Yuta, his inflection playful as it usually was around the others. Taeyong continued downstairs, footsteps echoing through the corridors as Hansol hummed, and then answered.

“I’ve never seen that before in my life.” He said. Yuta snorted.

“You’re the only person I ever told about this movie, you know.” Yuta’s voice was almost like a song, lilt and cadence shifting with each word before Taeyong finally reached the wide open door to the dance room, peeking over the edge of the door and not wanting to ruin the moment between the two. Sweaty, bare-faced Hansol stood in front of the mirror of the room, running his hands through his soaked hair while Yuta waved a DVD case in front of him. “Not as subtle as you thought, are you, Ji Hansol?”

“How rude.” Hansol said, snatching the case out of Yuta’s hand and holding it over his head. “If I _were_ the person that got this for you, I would take it back just because you said my name like that.”

“Oh, you would?” Yuta said challengingly, jumping for the DVD in Hansol’s hand as Hansol stood on his tiptoes and stretched his arm far above Yuta’s head. “Good thing you weren’t the person that gave it to me then. Give it back, hyung!”

Hansol reluctantly gave the case back to Yuta, watched as Yuta’s eyes brightened when he held it in front of his face and studied the title of it. He read it aloud in Japanese, something Taeyong had only heard a handful of times. Yuta didn’t like speaking Japanese around the others much, and though he never told them why, they all respected it. Hansol’s lips quirked in a small smile, messing with Yuta’s dark hair before he tapped his finger across the DVD case.

“Would you let me watch it with you?” Hansol said. “I heard it was good from a reliable source.”

“Your source must be a movie connoisseur.” Yuta gestured to himself. Hansol grinned.

“And _very_ humble too.” He paused and put his hands in his pockets, smile never leaving his face once as Yuta turned his gaze back down to the DVD case. Yuta couldn’t seem to stop grinning, running his fingers over the title of it as if tracing each letter and committing the lines to memory. “I’m really happy you like it. Uhm... merry Christmas, Yuta. I hope this helps you feel a little more like you’re at home.”

Taeyong even felt his own heart skip at that.

Yuta looked up, face flushed red as he weakly brought his hand down on Hansol’s chest, as if to sheepishly push him away and show how embarrassing it was for him to say something like that. Instead, he let his fingers rest on Hansol’s chest, despite the sweat on the chest area, despite the warmth that still radiated off of his skin, despite Hansol’s quiet warning that he was grimy from not showering the night before. Hansol lifted his own hand from his side, let it rest over Yuta’s without a word. Yuta parted his lips to speak, most of it lost in translation as he stuttered and stumbled to find the right thing to say.

“Look, uh....” He began softly, fingers tightening around the material of Hansol’s shirt. “I-I know that we have the party today and everything, so maybe another day?” Yuta said. Hansol quirked a brow.

“Maybe another day, what? You didn’t say anything.”

“I didn’t?” Yuta blushed darker. Taeyong was almost shocked at how Yuta was reacting in the moment. Most of the time, Yuta was reserved when it came to his emotions, didn’t show much because of some image he created for himself, but here he was, an anxious, flustered mess in front of Ji Hansol, of all people (though Taeyong himself thought that if Hansol were saying these kinds of things to him, he’d undoubtedly be a mess as well).

“You okay?” Hansol said. Yuta nodded frantically.

“Listen, do you wanna go out to dinner with me?” Yuta said, words coming out in a quick rush of slurred words and nerves. Hansol waited as Yuta bit his bottom lip. “I mean, not with me, not like a date or anything, but maybe just... _with_ me? And maybe afterwards we could— er, what I meant to say is just casual, just that we could go out together— wait, I mean—”

“Yuta.” Hansol said, bringing his hand up to cup Yuta’s cheek as he smiled. “Yeah, sure. Dinner tomorrow sounds nice. Maybe we can watch the movie afterwards? Unless you don’t want me to. That’s okay if you don’t want me to watch it with you or something.”

“I do!” Yuta near shouted, then covered his mouth. “I do... want that. A lot.” Hansol nodded, all of his words seemingly lost as he dropped his hand to his side and looked down to his shoes. Yuta did the same, shyly toeing the wood floor in circles as Taeyong tried to sneakily move back up the stairs. He slipped on the first step back, fell with a quiet, _“oof!”_ before he heard Yuta and Hansol rush to the open door. Scrambling to his feet, Taeyong waved sheepishly at the two of them, Yuta immediately hiding his red face in his hands as Hansol chuckled and waved back at Taeyong.

“Did you do it yet?” He asked. Taeyong shook his head, rushing upstairs once more without letting Hansol grill him on it more.

“Do you think he heard?” Yuta said softly. Hansol shrugged.

“Don’t you have to get ready for the party?” Hansol said. “I’ve gotta do a couple more songs.”

“Well, let me join you!” Yuta said, stepping into the practice room again as Hansol smiled and closed the door behind him. “Bet you I’m better at dancing to any song you turn on. Bet you anything!”

  
  
  
  
  


Making it back upstairs, Taeyong closed the door to the dorms behind him, found Jeno standing in the kitchen mixing a mug of something delicious smelling as he looked up and smiled at Taeyong. Before he could say anything, Jaemin greeted Taeyong from the couch, wrapped up in a blanket and still relaxing in his pajamas as Jeno carried the mug over to Jaemin.

“What’s all this?” Taeyong said. Jeno rolled his eyes as Jaemin shot him a side-eyed glance.

“It’s my punishment for stealing his phone yesterday. Apparently making him chase after me didn’t help his back at all, so he’s made me his servant for the day.” Jeno said, to which Jaemin grinned and took a sip of his hot chocolate.

“No partying today, then?” Taeyong said. Jaemin shrugged, frowning slightly.

“I guess not. The manager said I could if I wanted to, but considering how aggravated my back was just from running after him, I don’t think I could do much.” Jaemin turned his smile towards Taeyong. “But since he’s my servant, Jeno said he’d stay with me.”

Taeyong nudged Jeno with a grin on his face, following him into the kitchen as he pulled out a bowl of leftover food he had gotten a night before.

“That’s really kind of you, you know.” Taeyong said. “Staying with him while he’s here. And making him food. Really nice of you.”

Jeno grew flustered and nervous, tips of his ears bright red as he nodded and looked away from Taeyong.

“Well... it’s Christmas,” was all he could bring himself to say. Taeyong accepted it as explanation enough for his kind actions, leaned against the counter before he snapped his fingers.

“Have you seen Donghyuck? I need to ask him something important.”

“Hm, last I saw him, he just got done taking a shower.” Jeno said. “Maybe check his room, he’s probably being lazy before we have to leave.”

Taeyong left the kitchen, started down the hall to Donghyuck’s room when he heard his voice from a room on the way, door to Mark’s partially cracked open as Taeyong stopped and almost knocked, but heard the tone Donghyuck was using and stopped.

“So apparently Doyoung got me something for Christmas, and I didn’t get him anything, so now he’s being really passive aggressive towards me.” Donghyuck said, standing in front of Mark’s bed with his hands on his hips. “How is that my fault? Didn’t we say we’d only get gifts for people that we wanted to? I can’t go around blowing money like crazy!”

“Yeah, I get that, but maybe he just expected you to give him even something small? I don’t know.” Mark, always the one to remain neutral in arguments, countered Donghyuck, who pouted and shook his head.

“You can’t just _expect_ people to give you stuff. Then you’ll just get disappointed when they don’t do that.” Donghyuck retorted, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Taeyong watched as Mark set down a notebook, brushing his hair away from his face while Donghyuck continued ranting, voice growing more and more annoyed with every word.

“Hyuck.” Mark said, Donghyuck hardly batting a lash as he continued. _“Hyuck.”_ He said again, only to earn the wave of his hand before Mark sighed and picked up a pillow from his bed. He chucked it at Donghyuck’s head, hit him square in the face as Donghyuck gasped and glared at Mark on the bed. “Listen to me, punk!”

“Punk?!” Donghyuck lifted his hand to his chest. “Who are you calling a punk, rude—”

“Would you just be quiet for a second?” Mark said, grabbing a box from the bedside, messily wrapped in Christmas paper and a few stick-on bows before he pushed it towards Donghyuck. “Open it.”

Donghyuck glanced at the gift, then at Mark as if he was speaking a different language. Mark rolled his eyes and picked up the gift, almost tearing the wrapping off on his own as Donghyuck darted for it and tore it off first. Unfolding the box, Donghyuck found a pile of candy and sweets, practically spilling over the edge of the box as Mark grinned and poked Donghyuck’s nose.

“It’s all... candy.” Donghyuck said, fingers digging through the wrappers of candy and lollipops as he pulled one out and stared at it. “All of it is candy.”

“My mom sent it to me and said I should share with the whole group, but I wanted to give it to you.” Mark explained. “I figured we could eat it together, or something? Let’s get fat together, Hyuck!” Mark teased, to which Donghyuck let out a weak laugh, nervous and flustered. Mark furrowed his brows. “Do you not like it? It’s okay if you don’t.”

“It’s just... a lot of candy.” Donghyuck explained. “Even a lot for two people.”

“Oh. Well— I mean, we can always share it with the entire dorm.” Mark gestured vaguely towards the door. Donghyuck protectively pulled the box against his chest and shook his head.

“No way!” Mark smiled a little, Donghyuck’s face flush as he let the box fall to the bed. “Er, I just mean... it’s a really nice gift, so let’s just keep it for ourselves. You eat a lot of candy too, okay? We’ll get fat together, the managers can get mad at both of us.”

“These ones are my favorite.” Mark said, picking up a small wrapped candy and tearing the thin packaging off. “Here, open up!”

Donghyuck easily did as he was told, parted his lips and sucked on the small candy before nodding his head.

“That’s milk candy, right? Those are my favorites too.”

“You said you like salty stuff more than you like sweet stuff.”

“I can’t believe you remember that.” Donghyuck said.

“Of course I remember that! I was thinking before giving you the candy that I should’ve gotten you something salty instead, like food or some chips or something, so I’m happy you like it!” Mark paused. “Oh, and merry Christmas!”

“I got you something too!” Donghyuck said. “Stay here.”

Before Taeyong could react and get out of Donghyuck’s way, he came barreling past the door and bumping into Taeyong’s chest. He looked up at Taeyong, eyes wide.

“Did you see all that, hyung?!” He said, pushing Taeyong away from the door out of embarrassment. “Spying on people is really weird, you know! And probably illegal!”

“I wasn’t spying, I swear!” Taeyong said defensively, but giggled at Donghyuck’s anxious demeanor as he ran down to his own room to grab Mark’s gift. Taeyong poked his head into Mark’s room. “Cute gift.”

“O-oh.” Mark said, rubbing his neck with a bright smile on his face. “Thanks!”

“I took your advice, by the way. I got some candy for that person.”

Mark’s smile grew wider. “Nice! I hope they like it.”

“Me too. Don’t eat too much candy, by the way. You’ll both spoil your appetite and then you won’t eat at the party.”

“Yeah yeah, mother hen.” Donghyuck said as he squirmed past Taeyong and into Mark’s room. “Bye now!”

“Hyuck, be nice to Taeyong-hyung. Sorry, hyung!” Mark managed to rush out before Donghyuck closed the door and locked it for extra measure. Taeyong heard their muffled voices behind the door, followed by a few excited laughs from Mark after he (presumably) opened his gift. Taeyong grinned and turned to his own room. He still had to shower and get ready for the party later on, but there was a considerable lack of people in their dorms. Taeyong hadn’t seen Kun or Doyoung since the incident with Ten, and Jaehyun even less. Chenle, Renjun, and Jisung were practically nonexistent, and Taeil still hadn’t come home from visiting his family, even though he said he’d be back early in the morning. Hansol and Yuta were apparently still downstairs practicing, and Ten and Johnny must have separated from whatever it was they were doing, since Ten was walking around the dorms, but Johnny was nowhere to be found.

But most of all, Taeyong hadn’t seen Sicheng even once that morning, not even when Johnny was covered with snow and water so early in the morning. He hoped, after staying up all night working on making his gifts at least somewhat acceptable, that he’d see Sicheng at least once before the party.

  
  
  
  
  


Not even twenty minutes before they had to leave did Taeyong actually bother to get dressed. Considering they would have to go through hair and makeup before the party anyways, Taeyong didn’t really pay much mind to his hair or anything else other than the ugly Christmas sweater he put on, along with some jeans and sneakers before walking out into the living room. As the others poured out of their rooms (Chenle, Renjun, and Jisung included), Taeyong counted them all, starting from Hansol and Johnny, who were both wearing turtlenecks so they stuck out like sore thumbs, Ten and Yuta, followed by Jaehyun, Kun, Mark, Donghyuck, and himself. Jeno and Jaemin sat on the couch with a blanket between their bodies, Jeno impatiently turning the TV up as they all chattered loudly and organized themselves. Chenle, Renjun and Jisung stood side by side, Chenle proudly wearing a pair of suspenders and the ugliest sweater Taeyong had seen on their side of the Han River. Taeil was still missing in action, would probably show up at the party itself, but still no Doyoung or Sicheng.

Just as Taeyong thought to pull his phone from his pocket, the front door to the dorms burst open, Doyoung popping in first with bouquets of roses.

“Sorry I’m so late, I forgot to pick up flowers for everybody!” Doyoung said, pulling out roses and handing them out to each of the members. Most of the colors were yellow and orange, but one particular yellow rose with red tips stuck out from the bouquet in his arms.

Doyoung avoided grabbing it as he handed the flowers out one by one, finally reaching Taeyong and handing him a plain orange rose before giving him a short hug and congratulating him on being a great leader. The moment was short lived as Doyoung rushed away and handed Jaehyun the yellow rose with red tips. Jaehyun grinned, playfully bopping it against Doyoung’s nose as Doyoung smiled back at him.

Before Taeyong could snoop on Doyoung and Jaehyun anymore than he already had, he felt a hand touch his shoulder, capturing his attention as he looked to his left and found Sicheng standing beside him. His lips were pale, like Doyoung’s had been. Despite his slightly shivering frame, he smiled at Taeyong.

“Merry Christmas, hyung.” He said. “I’m sorry I’ve been busy all day, I wanted to say it this morning, but you were... preoccupied?” Sicheng said. “Busy. You were busy.”

“Preoccupied works too.” Taeyong said, pulling Sicheng into his arms for an embrace. Silently, a part of him hoped Sicheng could hear just how hard his heart was thudding in his chest, notice how his lips were dry and chapped and maybe, just possibly, do something about it. But Sicheng pulled away, wide eyed and smiley as he slid his hands down Taeyong’s arm and laced their fingers together.

“I have a surprise for you!” Sicheng said. “I wanted to talk to you before, but we never got a chance, so... if you don’t like your gift, hyung, you just tell me and I’ll get you something better, okay?” The excited tone in Sicheng’s voice made Taeyong’s heart want to melt to honey as he nodded. Taeyong resisted the urge to mention that he’d love any gift Sicheng got him, even if it was something he absolutely loathed.

“But... right now?” Taeyong said. “We’re about to leave. Can’t it wait—”

“Nope!” Hansol said, grabbing Taeyong by his shoulders and leading him to his bedroom, Sicheng following closely behind as he smiled at Hansol after he shoved Taeyong into his room. “Merry Christmas, Taeyong.” Hansol said as he pulled his door shut, leaving Sicheng alone with Taeyong in his room. Sicheng folded his hands behind his back, leaning back and forth on the heels of his feet before Taeyong straightened himself up and looked around the room.

“So... do you want to give me your gift first, or do you want to see my gift for you first?” Taeyong prompted. Sicheng raised his brows.

“I didn’t know you got me something!” He said with a giggle. “Now I feel bad.”

“Don’t.” Taeyong said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck as his cheeks turned red. “You’re gonna look at them and think they’re such stupid gifts. I can’t believe them myself, honestly.”

“I’m anticipating them.” Sicheng said eagerly before pursing his lips, as if he needed help making them pouty, and shrugged. “Would you like me to go first?”

“Er... sure.” Taeyong said. “Should I close my eyes?”

“What for?”

“Well, it’s a gift.... I thought— er, never mind.” Taeyong shook his head. “Okay, lay it on me.”

“Lay it on you...?” Sicheng said. “Lay what on you?” Sicheng lifted his hands from his sides and set them down on Taeyong’s shoulders. “Like this?”

Taeyong flushed in embarrassment, immediately wanting to fall to his bed and bury himself in his sheets until the next Christmas, when he was sure he wouldn’t be such a failure at finding gifts and talking to Sicheng (or maybe not— Taeyong never really had luck when it came to the dating department because he always made an awful first impression).

“Okay, hyung.” Sicheng began with his hands still on Taeyong’s shoulders. He squeezed comfortingly, quelling Taeyong’s pulse if only for a second. “I’ve been practicing this a lot. A lot! But if I make a mistake, you should tell me so I fix it.”

Sicheng took a deep breath, eyes fluttering shut as he let his hands drop from Taeyong’s shoulders. Taeyong hadn’t noticed it, but he was apparently just as nervous as Taeyong was, if not more so than Taeyong felt. His fingers trembled at his sides, a growing blush spreading from the tips of his ears to the apples of his cheeks and the tip of his nose. His lips were bitten with worry, red and slightly puffy as he repeated the action.

“Taeyong-hyung, I owe you a lot for everything you’ve done for me. From the first time I met you to now, you’ve helped me learn the language and how to talk with others properly. You always treated me nicely and bought me things I wanted even though you didn’t have to.”

Sicheng paused, wetting his lips with the tip of his tongue as Taeyong flushed brightly. “And you’re always taking care of everybody else even though you’ve got your own worries and troubles. We all love you and appreciate the work you do to keep us all working like a group, and even more like a family. Because of all the work you do, despite your own troubles... ah, this part is what I’m not so sure about, so please correct me if I’m wrong. Doyoung-hyung said you might not get it if I said it this way. Please... please, let me help you with your troubles from time to time, hyung. I want to take care of you through some of it so you don’t have to feel so alone.”

Letting the words sit for a moment, Sicheng shifted uneasily in his place. Taeyong let his jaw drop slightly, all coherent thoughts escaping him as he reminded himself not to get his hopes up. Since Sicheng was still learning the language, he sometimes said things wrong, wasn’t able to express himself in a way that made sense, so maybe he was just saying things easily instead of realizing the implication behind his words.

“U-uhm, I know it isn’t much of a gift, and I understand if you’re uncomfortable, but... I just thought maybe you wanted this.” Sicheng said softly. The unmistakable vulnerability in his voice made Taeyong want to pull him into his arms and hold him, kiss away his fear. But if he was hinting at what Taeyong _thought_ he was hinting at, then....

“I got you presents too.” Taeyong blurted, immediately rushing to his desk and handing Sicheng the holiday bag full of tissue paper and the small gifts he had managed to snatch up last minute. Sicheng smiled, sat down on Taeyong’s bed with the bag in front of him as he patted the seat beside him. Taeyong plopped down on the bed after a moment of hesitation. “They’re not good presents, just by the way. If you end up wanting something else, I’ll buy anything for you. I just... had a really, _really_ hard time finding you something.”

“I know.” Sicheng grinned. Taeyong raised a brow. “Yuta told me.”

“Yuta! Does that boy do anything but gossip? I can’t _believe_ him.” Taeyong said, making Sicheng giggle before he reached inside of the bag and pulled out the tissue paper. First, he pulled out a small packet of seeds. The top read, _“plum blossom seeds,”_ in traditional pinyin. Taeyong cleared his throat, nervous as Sicheng darted his gaze towards him. “I-I tried to get you some flowers, but all the pretty bouquets were sold out. Honestly, I don’t even understand how Doyoung got such a nice looking bouquet of flowers this morning.”

“I’ll tell you a secret if you promise you won’t tell Doyoung.” Sicheng said. Taeyong nodded quickly. “He said he ordered those flowers three weeks ago when we went to pick them up.”

“I knew he was a big sap.” Taeyong said, Sicheng snorting and messing through the bag again to take out a small piece of paper, a coupon for two at a local restaurant Sicheng had mentioned he liked in passing. Taeyong didn’t even need to explain, just nodded when Sicheng gestured between himself and Taeyong and then the coupon. “I’ll pay for anything you want, obviously. But I remembered you said you liked their food.”

“Reminds me of home.” Sicheng said, setting it down with the flower seeds and reaching into the bag again. “Jeez, hyung, how many gifts did you get me? My gift really feels worthless now!”

“Hm....” Taeyong counted on his fingers. “Seven. Seven gifts. But like I said, they’re not that great. As you can see by the coupon I gave you. I can’t believe I gave you a coupon.” Taeyong mumbled the last part to himself, to which Sicheng laughed and shrugged.

“I like them so far. They’re good gifts!” Sicheng pulled the third gift from its place in the bag. It was a small bracelet, not silver or gold or any sort of metal, but braided leather, with a few beads strung on every few coils. Sicheng immediately slid it down his wrist with a grin. “And this one?”

“Jewelry.” Taeyong said sheepishly. “Though I was looking at bracelets and necklaces, everything just felt a little... much? I mean, considering we’re bandmates, I didn’t want to freak you out by being overzealous when I bought a gift, so... this was a close second? Ugh, I look so cheap buying all this stuff. I swear, Sicheng, I tried _so hard_ to find something you wanted.”

“Hey.” Sicheng said, speaking without formality and lifting his hand to the side of Taeyong’s face. Taeyong’s cheeks immediately brightened to a tomato red shade, temperature rising to near feverish as he nodded. “I really do love these. That was the... third?” Taeyong nodded again.

With the slightest rustle of the bag, Sicheng pulled out a package of chocolates, a package of sweet cakes, and a package of cube jellies.

“Candy. Three different kinds, because I don’t really know what kind of candy you liked.”

“You’ll eat these with me, right?” Sicheng said, already opening the package of chocolates and pulling out a small caramel. Taeyong watched Sicheng bite into it, then reach over and poke the bitten half to Taeyong’s lips. Taeyong parted them easily, took the candy into his mouth while he willed his heart not to fall into cardiac arrest as he chewed the caramel. “So serious, hyung.”

“S-sorry, I’m just... happy right now.” Taeyong said through the chewy caramel. Sicheng wiped a smear of melted chocolate from the corner of Taeyong’s lip with his thumb, popping it into his mouth afterwards. “Really happy.” Taeyong repeated, heart skipping a beat in his chest.

After finishing their candy and giving each other passing smiles, Sicheng reached into the bag again, pulling out a small rolled up paper, tied with black ribbon. He quirked a brow, undoing the ribbon and rolling the paper open to find black ink spilled in the corners of the page, uneven letters in pinyin scrawled over the paper in ink. Even one of Taeyong’s fingerprints was on the paper, Sicheng pointing at it with a smile.

“Okay, this one was the hardest. I rewrote this four times before I just thought if there’s a mistake, you’ll forgive me.”

“It’s actually very nicely written.” Sicheng said, tracing his fingers over the ink. ““Winwin, please do your best in the new year.... Happy birthday”?” Sicheng laughed at the last part, Taeyong groaning and hiding his face in his hands.

“It was like four in the morning when I was writing this, I must have looked at the wrong phrase on my phone and written happy birthday instead. Oh my god.”

“My birthday did pass, so it’s okay!” Sicheng said. “This is really sweet.”

“You’ll have to teach me more Mandarin so I can start getting better at it. Or pinyin, I mean. Whichever.”

“You keep teaching me Korean and hangul, I’ll teach you Mandarin and pinyin. Although I do speak with a dialect, so I guess I’m cheating you a little.” Sicheng reached into the bag once more, only to find the bag empty. “Oh, that was all! Thank you—”

“Shit, wait, hold on.” Taeyong said, Sicheng laughing at the sudden curse as Taeyong rushed to his closet and pulled out a freshly washed sweatshirt, the color bright red with english letters scrawled across the chest. “I only wore this once, honestly, but I remembered you said you liked it a lot, so here.” Taeyong handed it to Sicheng, folded up nicely as Sicheng excitedly pulled it over his head and pulled the sleeves over his hands, the sweatshirt just a size too big for him. He smiled and tugged the collar over his nose, taking a long deep breath in while Taeyong sat down beside him again.

“Are you sure you don’t want to keep this? I liked seeing you in it, hyung. It suits you well.”

“I’d much rather give it to you.” Taeyong said. Sicheng turned to Taeyong, legs still crossed beneath him.

“And the seventh?” He said. Taeyong cleared his throat, fanning himself as he willed his heart to relax in his chest.

“Okay. This one is different. Just, uh, close your eyes.”

Sicheng did as he was told, his long lashes curving over his cheeks as he relaxed. “Should I put my hands out, hyung?”

“N-no, not really. It’s not that kind of gift.”

“Oh, okay then.” Sicheng said, dropping his hands to his lap.

 _Oh god,_ Taeyong thought anxiously, his body shaking, even the hair on the back of his neck standing on end as he leaned forward, wrapped his arms around Sicheng’s shoulders, and pulled him into his chest. Sicheng let out a soft, “Oh,” as soon as he did so, lifting his own arms from in front of him and holding Taeyong as much as he could given his position. Then Taeyong pulled away, Sicheng’s eyes still closed. Taeyong set his hands on either side of Sicheng’s shoulders, pulled him close and pressed a warm, tender kiss to the middle of his forehead.

When Taeyong pulled away, he could feel the warmth of Sicheng’s skin against his lips still, bottom lip quivering as Sicheng opened his eyes and met Taeyong’s gaze. His eyes were half-lidded, cheeks flush as Taeyong parted his lips to apologize for how sudden the “gift” was. He told himself earlier he wasn’t going to do it, but seeing Sicheng sitting so expectantly on his bed made him realize he was just being a coward if he didn’t when he had been thinking of it all night.

“I’m sorry. I’m... sorry.” For lack of better words, Taeyong just repeated himself.

Sicheng didn’t say a word, only flickered his gaze lower, arm moving from Taeyong’s waist and setting his hand down on the side of Taeyong’s neck. Before Taeyong could ask what Sicheng was doing, he had moved forward, now sitting on his knees and pulling Taeyong close, so close he could feel Sicheng’s breath ghosting over his lips before he caught them between his own. Taeyong’s heart stopped for a moment, whimpering in the back of his throat as Sicheng pushed himself closer, lips as soft as a peach despite how bitten with anxiety they were. The initial shock passed, Taeyong reacting almost immediately and kissing Sicheng back with a softness he had only ever dreamed of.

They parted for a breath, Sicheng resting his forehead against Taeyong’s as he bit his bottom lip. Taeyong lifted his thumb to Sicheng’s bottom lip, tugging it out and pressing a chaste kiss to it, even though it was already reddening from how Sicheng bit down on it.

“Let me take care of you, hyung.” Sicheng said. “Do you get it? I was worried you wouldn’t understand.”

Taeyong felt like all the breath had been knocked out of his chest, a quiet noise escaping him out of shock. Sicheng smiled shyly.

“I’m not _that_ great at kissing, you know.” Sicheng said, voice barely audible over Taeyong’s pounding heartbeat. “Was that okay?”

“What?” Taeyong practically grunted the word out, unable to form a coherent sentence in his head to save the life of him.

“The kiss?”

Taeyong nodded almost too quickly, capturing Sicheng’s lips with another kiss. Now that he had permission to, he wanted to take full advantage of the plush softness of Sicheng’s lips, of how he seemed to move closer with each and every brush of their lips until Taeyong was on his back, Sicheng’s chest flush against his own as Sicheng straddled Taeyong’s hips and kept him pinned to the bed. If he wasn’t so sure that he had been scared awake by Ten’s prank (or gift?) to Johnny in the morning, Taeyong would be sure he was dreaming. Every touch Sicheng gave him, every quiet noise that escaped him, every kiss they shared— Taeyong felt like he was dreaming after each one.

“You don’t have to take care of me, you know.” Taeyong said after they parted, carding his fingers through Sicheng’s soft brown hair as he flickered his gaze up to meet Sicheng’s own. His coffee brown eyes were carefully tracing over Taeyong’s features. “I’m your hyung. That’s my job as the leader, too.”

“I know it is.” Sicheng said, lifting his fingers to brush hair away from Taeyong’s face. “But you bear the pain of the group on your shoulders alone. That doesn’t seem... fair?” Sicheng said, looking in Taeyong’s expression for approval in his word choice. Taeyong nodded, Sicheng grinning.

“I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to be the leader.” Taeyong said. “And you... I would never ask you to bear any of it.”

“I want to.” Sicheng said. “As your boyfriend, I want to.”

“Boyfriend?” Taeyong said, face immediately flushed red.

“Is that not the right word? Because Doyoung told me lover would be too intimate, and partner just makes it sound weird. Fiance? Husband? That’s too much, too.” Sicheng pursed his lips slightly, Taeyong immediately bursting into giggles as Sicheng narrowed his gaze towards him and grimaced. “What are you laughing at? Are those all wrong too? Agh, I’m trying to get the words right, I swear!”

“Boyfriend is the right word.” Taeyong said through his quiet giggles. “I don’t mind boyfriend at all.”

“Hm, okay.” Sicheng said, relaxing on the bed and resting his palms over Taeyong’s chest. “Hey, boyfriend, could I ask for one more gift?”

Taeyong snickered again at the odd pet name. Sicheng was so ridiculously adorable, it almost hurt. “What is it?”

“Let’s stay here instead of going to the party.”

“Don’t you want to see everybody else?” Taeyong said.

Sicheng hummed, tilting his head from side to side before shaking his head. “I haven’t been able to see you all week long. Do you know how annoying that was for me?”

“I’m sorry.” Taeyong apologized, pressing a kiss to Sicheng’s forehead. “I was so busy trying to find the perfect gift that I completely ignored you. Maybe on purpose. I was really worried about it. I asked almost everybody in the dorms for ideas on gifts.”

“Well, I loved them all, but now you should indulge me in more presents.” Sicheng grinned as Taeyong let his jaw go slack with surprise at how forward Sicheng was being. “Lots of kisses and hugs!”

“So demanding, aren’t you?”

“I demand _all_ the affection!” Sicheng said, the two bursting into laughter before Taeyong kissed his cheek, Sicheng immediately catching his lips in a warm kiss. “Merry Christmas, hyung. I couldn’t give you much, but I hope you like it even a little bit.”

Taeyong, unable to speak or properly show his affection, just nodded and pulled Sicheng into his arms, tucking his face in the crook of Sicheng’s neck and kissing at whatever he possibly could. Eventually, they found themselves under the covers, sharing kisses between quiet laughter and hushed whispers celebrating the holidays. Taeyong could hear his phone going off in his pocket, most likely texts from the others asking where he was and what was taking him so long back in the dorms, but couldn’t bring himself to care as Sicheng kissed him senseless and tangled his fingers in Taeyong’s hair.

  
  
  
  
  


Taeyong awoke at two in the morning from the sound of the other members pouring into the dorms. Jeno and Jaemin had long since gone to bed, wishing Taeyong a good night in passing. Now Taeyong could hear Hansol stumbling through the dorm doors, Yuta’s giggles echoing through the hall as Hansol shushed him with a slurred laugh. Ten wasn’t far off, hiccuping as Johnny scolded him for drinking excessively and so early on in the party.

As he tried to wiggle out from his bed to walk out to the hall to greet the other members and apologize for staying back (though he really didn’t feel sorry missing the party considering he and Sicheng had kissed and cuddled all night), Sicheng’s hold around his waist tightened, holding him close and mumbling something in his sleep.

Taeyong settled in the bed again, messing with Sicheng’s dark hair and pressing a soft kiss to the top of his head as Sicheng pulled him back into bed and refused to let go. Smiling fondly down at Sicheng, Taeyong could feel his heart still fluttering unbelievably in his chest, shocked at the simple fact that Sicheng liked him, maybe even loved him in the same way that Taeyong loved him. Sicheng gave Taeyong his love, practically gave _himself_ to Taeyong.... How could he not treasure that gift with his life? He was insecure in admitting it earlier, said that he felt it wasn’t enough compared to Taeyong’s, and yet, it was more than anything Taeyong could have imagined getting in his entire life.

“Merry Christmas, Sicheng.”

**Author's Note:**

> title from [Christmas Day](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUF7zl8Z2iE) by EXO. i know, i know im so fckn creative (im so bad at titling things pls),, 
> 
> again, if there were any typos/mistakes/things like that, let me know!! i tried to edit this as best as i could, but im also rushing to get this posted before midnight TT oh also their dorm situations were all made up, idk how they live or where they live or anything im just 2 lazy to make it accurate so foRGIVE ME,,
> 
> thank you so much for reading!! ♥♥
> 
> talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/iIyssssm) or [tumblr](http://ilyssssm.tumblr.com/)!! ♥


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